


Blank Suit

by lotsofbigangrybees



Series: Courier Lilt [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Other, and its a little blink and you'll miss it, now the benny/courier is mostly just implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:22:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25956682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotsofbigangrybees/pseuds/lotsofbigangrybees
Summary: From where Benny was kneeling, it really did seem like an 18-Karat run of bad luck.
Relationships: Benny/Courier
Series: Courier Lilt [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934434
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Blank Suit

Lilt’s stomach churned as they turned away from Caesar, digging nails into sweaty palms as they walked over to where Benny was kneeling, hands bound. 

His suit was rumpled and dirty, hair uncharacteristically unkempt, and he sported a large bruise across one cheek. He looked like shit. 

“You look like shit.” They knelt down as they said it, at eye level with the man. 

“You’re not lookin’ so fresh yourself, baby.” Benny’s tone was even, but his eyes darted around, avoiding Lilt’s face. They lifted a hand to brush strands of hair away from his face, but drew it back when he flinched, using it to play with the end of a plait instead.

“I did what you said. With the robots and the bunker.” They kept their voice low, remembering Arcade’s warning before they entered the Fort. Benny’s eyes momentarily met Lilt’s, bound hands tensing. 

“Robots? Baby, what did you get up to down there?” They held his gaze for as long as they could, trying to convey that they were being honest. Hell, Benny probably knew that anyways, lying had never been their strong suit. They looked around at the guards, a few stood closeby, casting glances at the prisoner every so often. Lilt gave Benny a meaningful look, Arcade had told them to be careful about what they said, especially when he wouldn’t be there to nudge them in warning.

Benny caught on and pursed his lips, looking at the ground, eyes catching on the PipBoy. He leaned forward, face pressing into Lilt’s shoulder. They started, reaching their hands forward, fingertips brushing Benny’s. 

“Alright, we gotta keep cool, baby. Turn on that fancypants radio of yours, and tell ‘em it helps you think.”His voice rumbled against Lilt’s shirt, close enough that they could feel his breath. “We gotta play this smooth, real smooth-” 

“Like little babies?” They felt Benny let out a small chuckle before he drew back, head nodding down to their wrist. They took a deep breath, and flicked the station to Radio New Vegas. The guards turned to regard them with sharp eyes, and they grinned sheepishly back. 

“I- um, it helps me concentrate, for when I have to think hard and stuff.” One of the guards took a cautious step forward, and they shot up, accidentally elbowing Benny in the process. “About how to kill him, you know? So many different ways like, uh, shooting, and uh, the other ways.” They looked at the guards earnestly, brown eyes shining, long lashes blinking gently. The two closest guards looked between each other for a moment, then stepped back. Lilt turned back to Benny, momentarily distracted by the opening bars of  _ Big Iron _ before kneeling back down, somewhat mirroring the man in front of them. 

“Now tell me what happened down there, quicksmart.” Lilt reached up and removed their hat, picking at the edge of the brim. 

“There was a whole bunch of those robots, like Victor and Yes Man. Mr House was down there too, an’ he told me to power ‘em all up, with the chip.”

“So all this time the old man had an entire army on lay-away? Clever player.” Benny rolled his shoulders, fingertips tapping Lilt’s hat, bringing their eyes up. “So all you gotta do now is talk to Yes Man, figure out how to set things in motion.” 

“They want me to kill you, Benny.” Lilt’s voice shook. Sure, they’d killed people before. Powder Gangers, Fiends, even Benny’s thugs, but that’d been different. Except it hadn’t been. Benny had been the one that buried the bullet in their head, looking them straight in the eyes. Benny had been the one that promised he’d be waiting to discuss things in his room, expression genuine. Benny had been the one that sent in his men to kill Lilt. He’d lied, he’d cheated, he’d played the game. But now he was losing. 

“No kidding, baby.” Lilt puzzled over their options. On the one hand, Benny had been bad. On the other, he’d done it to bring power back to the people of New Vegas. He had had no way of knowing that Lilt wasn’t still loyal to Mr House. Back to the original hand, Benny had shot them. In the head. Then buried them. Stolen their package. Ruined their life as a reputable courier with the Mojave Express. If it weren’t for Benny, they wouldn’t have been tangled up in any of this. 

“I could untie you, you could sneak out.” Lilt wasn’t the brightest spark in the tool box, or something like that, but they knew it would be suicide without a StealthBoy. 

“If you can get these ropes off, I’ll do my best to take down my share of guards.” Benny’s face was hard, staring straight at them. 

“They’ll beat you to death, Benny.”

“I know. Listen, w hat I did to you was rotten, but if you think House, the NCR or Caesar won't kill to put Vegas in their pocket, I really did blow out your brains. If you want a chance at playing in the big leagues, you gotta have what it takes, baby.” Lilt knew when someone was talking out of their ass. He was bluffing. Lilt had seen Cass do the same in enough games of Caravan to pick it. The silenced pistol felt like a hot iron against their stomach, tucked beneath their waistband. They were a killer, but not a murderer. 

“So what’s it gonna be?” 

Lilt hated thinking about things. When Veronica had asked them if they liked Sunset Sarsaparilla or NukaCola better, they’d gone quiet, bitten their lip, and developed a deep crease between their eyebrows. They were clear cut about what they thought on most things. When Arcade asked if it was alright that he read aloud, Lilt had nodded enthusiastically, and attempted to decipher the words as they were read. When Cass had asked for their opinion on what to do with the Crimson Caravan Company and the Van Graffs, they’d immediately pushed to report to the NCR instead. 

But this was another case of Sarsaparilla versus Cola. 

They knew Benny was going to die, and they hated having to choose how. Going up on the cross was out of the question, they wouldn’t be able to look at Arcade if they were responsible for such a thing. Hell, they wouldn’t be able to look at  _ themself _ . That left two options. Try, and most likely fail, to get themself, Arcade, ED-E,  _ and  _ Benny out, all while the Legion is trying to beat them to death, or finish it the way Benny had started it. A clean bullet to the head, with no chance of Victor or Doc Mitchell patching him up. An eye for an eye. 

“I’ll try and make it clean. I promise.” Benny swallowed loudly, eyes unfocused as he stared into the dirt. 

“So that’s it? You’re gonna murder me while I’m on my knees? Like some kinda fink?” 

“There’s too many of them, and I’ve already got people I’ve gotta get out.” 

“We coulda fought our way outta here, baby. You and me.” They leaned forward, and pressed a gentle kiss to each of Benny’s cheeks. Their hands shook as they stood, placing the hat back atop their head. The guards watched, and Lilt could feel Caesar’s cold stare at their back as they clicked the radio off. 

The pistol felt odd in their hands. It wasn’t the comforting grip of their shotgun, solid and safe. The metal was cold, and they could only imagine how it felt when they pressed it against Benny’s forehead. They looked down at him, remembering how his hands had been steady when he took the shot. How they’d been steady in Lilt’s long hair. Steady, pouring a generous glass of whiskey.

“For what it’s worth Benny, I do wish you’d been dealt a different hand.” That sounded right. Like something in one of Arcade’s books. A neat end. Justice prevailing. 

They looked right into Benny’s eyes as they pulled the trigger.

_ Bang. _

**Author's Note:**

> its so nice to be playing new vegas again even though it sent me spiraling into a cowboy hole 
> 
> im on tumblr as @homebrandailis !


End file.
